


I could only call your name

by Miss_Romance_Lover



Category: Emmerdale, robron
Genre: Fluff, Humour, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-15 01:51:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14149335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Romance_Lover/pseuds/Miss_Romance_Lover
Summary: A series of short fics for Robron Week 2018





	1. Day 1: Home/Domesticity

Aaron was sitting in the lounge with Seb on his lap, the baby facing him as he put his little hands up to feel the man's beard. Aaron laughed every time the little boy did it, and Robert heard him even before he returned downstairs.

"What's going on here, then?" the older man asked with a smile.

"I think he likes my beard."

Robert walked over to join them on the sofa, pecking his husband and son each on the head. "Well, be glad you don't keep it long any more or he'd be pulling at it!"

"Nah, Seb wouldn't do that to me, would you mate?" Aaron replied, bouncing Seb slightly in his arms. The baby gave him a smile, and he responded by making silly faces at him. 

"Oh I see how it is, eh? You're the fun one and I'm the boring one that has to do do all the nappy changes." Robert was rolling his eyes, but in truth he wasn't all that bothered. Apart from those times when he couldn't be available to deal with a nappy emergency and he wished Aaron wasn't so squeamish. 

Aaron smirked at him. "You said it."

"Just for that, I'm going to personally teach you how to change him next time he needs it."

"As punishment for me being cooler than you?"

"You're not cooler than me, thank you very much. Is he, Seb?"

Seb made a gurgling noise, and Aaron grinned. "He disagrees."

Robert mock-gasped at them both. "Hey, that's not very nice."

Aaron played along and pouted. "I'm sorry, you know we love you really."

"Hmm."

"Here y'are, I'm hogging all the cuddles," he passed Seb over to Robert. "He's definitely got your eyes, you know."

Robert looked a little closer at his son. "You reckon?"

"Yeah. I would know, I'm an expert on your eyes."

"Aaron Dingle," the older man exclaimed. "That was quite romantic for you."

"Shut up," Aaron laughed, leaning over to kiss him lightly on the lips. 

"Then again I don't know why I'm surprised. That speech you gave me outside Vic's was amazing."

"You still going on about that?"

"Don't get all embarrassed again. Nobody's ever loved me enough to make a list about it. Until you."

Aaron saw the look in his eyes then, the way his mask slipped as it only ever did with him. Robert's vulnerability laid bare, safe with Aaron as it always would be. "You know I meant every word," he reassured him. "It just kind of spilled out of me, but it's how I felt. How I feel."

Before Robert could reply, Seb made another noise which sounded much like approval. The two men laughed as the little boy wriggled in his father's arms, stretching his arms out towards Aaron.

"Someone's playing favourites here and it really wounds me," Robert said as Aaron reclaimed Seb with ease. 

"Don't be daft; you're his daddy. He just knows I'm a top bloke, that's all," Aaron winked once at his husband, and then again at his step-son. "You're not really sulking, are you?"

"Aaron, of course I'm not. I'm happy. Being here, with you...Seb loving you as much as I hoped he would, and you loving him? It's everything. Life just feels...complete."

Liv had walked through the door just as he was finishing that sentence, and she immediately rolled her eyes. "Oh my God. What soppy love-fest have I walked in on? You complete me, Aaron!" she mocked, pulling a face of disgust.

She dumped her school bag by the door, marched straight over to them and held out her arms for the baby she had quickly grown to love. "Come on Sebby, let's go up to my room and leave these two losers alone. They can be romantic saps without us around."

This time there was a squeal of delight from the little boy, making Liv laugh as she carried him carefully up the stairs. Robert and Aaron looked at each other and grinned. This was the height of domesticity that neither of them thought they would ever have.

"What do you fancy for dinner?" Robert asked, giving Aaron a kiss and getting up off the sofa.

"Anything you feel like cooking. And while you're doing that you can tell me more about how I 'complete' you," the younger man teased. 

"You are one cheeky git, you. It's a good job I love you."

"Love you too. Now hurry up and make my dinner!" Aaron had followed him into the kitchen, and he laughed loudly when Robert threw a tea towel at him. He watched as his husband moved effortlessly around their kitchen, pulling ingredients out of the fridge, grabbing a chopping board and getting to work. He thought the sight would never get old.

"Rob?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm happy, too."

Robert looked up at him and smiled, beaming more than Aaron had ever seen him. That was the moment Aaron decided to say it; the question coming to him with all the clarity he'd had that day he had opened his heart on that doorstep. He didn't have it in him to plan something elaborate, and clearly his own slapdash methods were good enough when it came to this man.

"You want to get married tomorrow?"

Dropping the knife onto the counter, Robert's mouth then followed suit to drop open.

"Sorry, probably shouldn't have blurted that out while you were chopping veg," Aaron said sheepishly.

Robert had already abandoned said vegetables in favour of coming to stand in front of him. "Aaron," he breathed out, and it sounded like a question and an answer all at the same time.

"I know we don't need a piece of paper. I already feel married to you; you're already my husband. But I want the piece of paper anyway. I want to be your legal husband. So...will you marry me again?"

Eyes shining with tears, Robert surged forward and kissed Aaron deeply. "'Course I'll marry you. I don't think tomorrow's too likely though, we have to give notice first."

"What would you say if I told you I'd sorted that already? I mean, I haven't booked the ceremony or anything but when I registered the intent to marry I checked availability for this month and apparently, not many weddings going on at the registry office in August."

Robert didn't know what to say at first. Then he found Aaron's hand and linked their fingers together. "You beautiful, sneaky, brilliant man," he said, staring at him in awe.

"It's not that big a deal," Aaron replied quietly. "Nowhere near as amazing as everything you organised the first time round. I didn't even know how I was going to ask you; then today I was just looking at you and knew I didn't want to wait any more."

"I don't want to wait either. Is it too late to call them now?"

Aaron looked at the clock. "Should be plenty of time. We really doing this?"

Robert grinned. "Let's do it, Mr Sugden."


	2. Day Two: Past/Memories

"Rob?"

"Hmm?" They were lying in bed, Robert was half asleep, when Aaron spoke for the first time in minutes. 

"I think something's wrong, I don't...I don't feel..."

Robert sat up and turned on his bedside light. "What is it, what's the matter? Are you in pain?"

"Yeah, it's my head. Feels worse than a headache though."

"Is this the first time you've been in pain?"

Aaron sighed. "No."

Robert frowned at him. "Aaron, why didn't you tell me?"

"It only started yesterday. It lasts a few minutes and then it goes away, so I thought I'd be okay, but..."

"But you're not okay."

Aaron shook his head, whimpering with the force of the pain he was in. Robert cupped his husband's cheek and kissed his forehead, before getting up and dressing quickly. "Right, we're going to the hospital. Can you stand up?"

The younger man moved slowly, sitting up in the bed. He held onto Robert's arm and managed to steady himself onto his feet. Already wearing a t-shirt and boxers, Aaron pointed towards an open drawer. "Pass me them trackies," he told his husband through a groan.

By the time they were on their way the pain had subsided, but Robert was adamant that they still made the trip to A&E. Aaron regretted going along with it when they were still in the waiting room after an hour, and after a further hour he had only been seen by a nurse who offered him strong pain relief for another bout of agonising pain.

When Robert made a fuss about how long they had been waiting to see an actual doctor, Aaron wasn't sure whether his audible moans were more about the pain he was in or due to embarrassment over his husband's loud behaviour. Although he knew that if Robert were the one that was ill, he would be just as frantic. 

Finally a female doctor appeared, going over Aaron's symptoms with him and looking concerned enough to move things along with a scan and fast-tracked results. Robert was left alone in yet another waiting room, trying not to think about how familiar the situation was. But if the last time he sat in a hospital waiting for news on Aaron had felt unbearable, this managed to feel ten times that.

It was a relief when Aaron was returned to him post-scan, and he could concentrate on keeping him calm. "How's the pain?"

"Keeps coming and going," Aaron replied. "It's gone again now. What are we going to do if it's bad news, this scan?"

Robert reached for his hand. "We'll deal with it, like we always deal with whatever comes our way, yeah? It might not come to that, but if it does, you're in the best place to be looked after. By the doctors and by me."

"Oh yeah, and what will you be doing, Dr Sugden?"

"Distracting you with my good looks," he smirked.

"What good looks are those, then?"

"That hurts me deeply, Aaron," Robert feigned a gasp. "You know one of the conditions of marriage is to compliment your husband on the regular."

Aaron grinned for the first time since it all started. "Yeah well, one of my conditions is to take the mick."

The corners of Robert's mouth turned up in a smile, just as the doctor returned.

"I've got your results here," she explained. "I'm afraid you have a brain aneurysm, Mr Dingle."

The two men looked to each other, stunned. They were still holding hands, and Robert squeezed Aaron's briefly before they both turned to look back at the doctor. 

"We need to operate, and we'll do that today because there's quite a big risk of it rupturing the longer we leave it," the woman informed them. She went through several more details with them before offering Aaron the consent form. He took one more look at his husband and then signed it on the spot. The doctor left them alone, promising that the surgery would take place within the next hour.

Once Robert had made a call to Chas to explain what was going on and to check on Seb - who had stayed with her overnight - he sat with his husband and tried to be strong for him.

"I keep thinking about what happened with Cain," Aaron mumbled. "He wasted time refusing to have the operation because he thought he'd end up worse off. I know all the risks, but if I don't go through with this then what's my other option; wait for this thing in my head to burst, and have it be my own fault that I've had to leave you? And Liv, Seb, Mum..."

"It's going to be okay," Robert cut in. "You'll have the op and everything will be alright. Cain did as he was told in the end, didn't he? And you're going to be fine, just like he was. Except you're not being as stubborn as him for once in your life!"

Aaron huffed out a weak laugh. "Do you remember talking me through it, when he was going through this?"

"'Course I do. I remember everything when it comes to you."

"You calmed me down, even then. And it was the same when I was stranded in the woods. Thinking about you kept me going, even though you really weren't mine to think about."

Robert let out a shaky breath. He remembered the crippling sense of love and worry that had overwhelmed him when he found the younger man lying injured that day. At the time it had been a burden to him, to care so much about this man that had turned his life upside down and made him question who he really was.

To hear now that Aaron had valued him even for the mess that he was back then...it floored him. 

"Well I'm yours now," he told him through tears. He stood to hover over Aaron's bed, leaning closer to kiss him gently on the lips. Chas and Paddy chose that moment to walk in.

"Oh, love," Chas was by her son's side in seconds. "How are you feeling?"

"I was doing alright, mum, please don't make me cry now," he pleaded. She gave him a weak smile and nodded, bending down to kiss his forehead. 

"Hiya mate," Paddy said in a quiet voice. Aaron could tell his father figure was just as worried as his mother. The looks on both of their faces were too overwhelming and he had to look away. 

"So, where's Seb?" he asked after another minute. 

"We dropped him off at Lisa and Zak's with Evie," Paddy remarked of his surrogate grandson and his daughter by Chas. 

"Yeah, and everyone sends their love," she added. "I managed to convince them not to come rushing down here all at once. I know you'd hate that. And Robert said you didn't want Liv knowing yet?"

Aaron nodded. "I'm not having her hear about this when she's so far away and then driving back from uni in a panic. We'll tell her after the op."

A nurse came in to say that it was time to get Aaron prepped for the surgery, and as she wheeled his bed out of the hospital room and down the corridor he said a quick goodbye to his mum and Paddy before sending them away.

The nurse stopped in her tracks, leaving Aaron's bed stationary for a minute so Robert could talk to him. "Love you. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Yeah. Love you too." Aaron tilted his head up to instigate a kiss, and Robert was quick to oblige. "I'm trying not to be scared," he whispered against the older man's neck. 

"Oh Aaron," Robert held him close. "You don't need to be scared, okay? In a few hours you'll come back to me and it'll all be over. And...you know?"

As he pulled away from Aaron, the younger man gave him a watery smile. "I know."

Several hours and as many coffees later, they were told the operation had gone very well. Robert was the first in to see Aaron, who was still drowsy from the anaesthetic. 

"Hey you," he greeted as he sat once again by his side. "You feeling okay?"

"Mmm. You look tired," Aaron commented

"Thanks," he chuckled.

"At least you don't stink of lake water this time."

Robert frowned at the memory of nearly losing Aaron in the water, before his face creased into a soft smile at the thought of the following day when they had made their engagement official.

"It obviously didn't bother you that much. You did propose." 

Aaron smiled sleepily at him. "Best hospital memory ever," he mumbled.

"I know," Robert agreed, watching his husband drift back off to sleep. He reached out to stroke his hair away from his face. "And when I get you home we'll make loads more memories together."


	3. Day Three: Distance/Separation

"Tell me what you did today," Robert said over the phone.

"Went to work, did a scrap run, went to the pub for dinner and came home."

"That was too quick," he complained. "And you must have missed out some stuff." 

Aaron laughed. "What, you want me to tell you what time I woke up; how many times I went to the bog, everything I ate today?"

"Shut up. I can't help it if I miss you. It's no fun being in a hotel without you. Not sure this business deal is worth being away from you for a week."

"Oh I don't know, I'm kind of enjoying the peace and quiet," Aaron teased.

Robert groaned. "Come on Aaron, I'm lonely here and it's messing with my mind. I'm only half sure that you're actually joking."

"Of course I'm joking you muppet! Yes, I miss you too. But it's only three more days."

"'Only' nothing. That's too long."

"Is someone missing all the sex?"

"That's not what I meant! Although obviously yes, I do. That's not why I called, though. I'm not after a bit of phone sex. I prefer the real thing."

"Good, because I can't be doing with that anyway, I get too self-conscious."

"That's okay, I still love you," Robert chuckled.

"Well lucky me," Aaron deadpanned.

"Mmm, I'll make you feel lucky when I get home."

"Rob, I just said I'm not into phone--"

"I know, I was just making a promise. So what are you doing?"

"Talking to you."

"Besides that, you idiot."

"Nothing. Top Gear's on telly."

Robert was smirking down the phone. "Knew you were going to say that. Which one is it?"

"Dunno. The one with that comedian in it - Michael something?"

"No idea who that is."

"Yeah well, there's nothing else on. What you doing?"

"Even less than you are, I haven't even got the telly on here. I should probably turn the light on though, it's got dark really quickly since I started talking to you."

Aaron could hear movement as Robert got up from his bed to do exactly that. "Was that your exercise for the day?" he laughed. 

"Was that a dig because I've been sitting in meetings all day while you've been flexing those muscles hauling scrap?"

"Well you said it!"

"Cheeky git."

"I'm doing you a favour here. Keeping your ego at bay. Husbandly duty."

"Ah well, in that case. Thanks very much, hubby."

"Yeah, don't call me that," Aaron said firmly.

"Sorry, husband."

"Mmm. So the business stuff isn't going well, then?"

Robert sighed. "It's fine, I suppose. Just not all that interesting. The clients are so dull."

Aaron snorted. "Are most of your other clients not dull?"

"Good point. Maybe it's because this is the first time I've been away since the wedding. Everyone who isn't you just bores me."

"Okay, that is too soppy even for you."

"Don't care. I miss you."

"You said that."

"Saying it again."

"Soft lad."

"Your soft lad."

"I know. Rob?"

"Yes, Aaron?"

"Can you help me with the books for the yard when you get back?"

"What's it worth?"

"Robert."

"I'm kidding. 'Course I will."

"Love you."

"Love you too. Now who's soppy?"

"Shut up. Why aren't you home yet?"

"What happened to 'it's only three more days'?"

"The house is too empty now."

"Admit it: you're just as lovesick as I am."

"Nope."

"I'll bring you back a present if you just admit it."

Aaron huffed out a breath. "You're meant to bring me back a present anyway. Those are the rules."

"What kind of decent present am I going to find in Manchester that I can't already get you in Hotten?"

"Surprise me."

"How about one of your car magazines bought from a Manc's newsagents'?"

"Very funny. What time is it?"

Robert looked at his watch. "Nearly 1am."

"I've got an early delivery in the morning," Aaron sighed. "I guess I should hang up."

"Nooo," his husband whined.

"Don't you have an early start as well?"

"Yeah. I'd still rather stay up talking to you though."

"I love you Robert, but I'm starting to fall asleep now."

"Okay, I won't be selfish. Goodnight, Mr Sugden."

"Go to bed."

"Yeah."

"Alright, I'm going now."

"Mmm," Robert was getting sleepy himself now, and Aaron smiled, hearing it in his voice.

"Night then, Mr Dingle," he said, ending the call with a soft smile. It wouldn't be long until his husband was back home, he reminded himself. And his yearning definitely had nothing to do with needing him to do the books.


	4. Day Four: Future/Later

Aaron is lying in their bed, looking at his worn, wrinkled hands and finding that the aging process doesn't really bother him all that much. He looks up as he sees his husband shuffling towards him and smiles contentedly as the man joins him, lying beside him and wrapping an arm comfortably around him.

He's 80 years old now, Robert. Aaron remembers telling him once that he was to stick around until then; but now they've had near on fifty years together he's decided the new goal is a hundred. 

Robert lets out a sleepy sigh and rolls over to face Aaron. "Give us a kiss then," he says, tilting up his chin. Aaron laughs at him.

"Too lazy to kiss me yourself now, Sugden? Or just too old?"

"Why thank you, dear husband. I'll remind you of this behaviour when you're hitting the big 8-0."

"Got a few more years to wait yet, mate. I'm still early 70s, aren't I."

Robert pouts at him. Even at his age, he can still pout and, to Aaron, almost look like that thirty year old disaster he was when they first fell in love. "Don't be mean. I want my kiss."

Aaron smirks and relents, kissing Robert on the lips and then on the cheek in that way of his when he's feeling quietly romantic. "You know," he breathes out close to the older man's ear.

"Hmm," Robert sighs, a smile forming on his lips as he pulls Aaron even closer. "Yeah, I know."

Their movements may be slower and they may have less energy these days, but they can still show each other how they feel, and they can certainly still do it as well as they ever did. They're just much quicker to fall asleep in the afterglow. 

They wake early the next morning, Aaron rising first to make his husband a bacon buttie and a coffee, which he brings up to the bedroom along with his own breakfast and a cup of tea. 

"You are good to me."

"Don't expect it every morning," Aaron tells him. "My legs are knackered walking up and down those stairs."

"Careful what you say in front of Seb and Abi," Robert says of their grown up kids. "They'll be moving us into a retirement home before we know it. Or a bungalow," he pulls what Aaron refers to as his 'snobby' face.

"As if. What was it Abi said about us the other day? We're very 'sprightly' for our ages."

"Except when we're trying to climb the stairs."

"Right. Bloody spiral staircase. Not one of your best ideas."

"Alright!" Robert holds up his hands, hiding half a smile at the ancient debate. "After nearly fifty years of living in this place, I will finally say that the stairs were a mistake."

"Did Robert Sugden just admit defeat?"

"No. I'm admitting that the staircase isn't great for a couple of old men."

Aaron smirks. "Shut it with the 'old man' thing, you. I'm much younger than you, remember?"

"You know, your teasing was a lot funnier when I was thirty."

"Sorry, can't help myself."

"I know. Can't have you being too nice, can we?"

"Exactly. I've got a reputation to think of."

He laughs a little breathlessly. "Some things will never change. I love you so much."

"And I love you. Are you alright?" Aaron asks, looking concerned. "I haven't seen you get short of breath in weeks."

"I'm fine at the moment," Robert promises. "But...I do need to talk to you. It's about the cancer."

"What? I thought you were doing well."

"Aaron, I got a phone call yesterday about my blood tests. Something showed up and they want us to come in today to talk to the consultant."

The colour drains from Aaron's face. "Why are you only just telling me this? We don't lie to each other any more."

Robert cups his husband's face tenderly. "I know we don't, and I was always going to tell you, okay? I wasn't planning on going to the hospital without you. I just...I wanted to spend last night and this morning with you before we had to deal with this."

"Robert, have you been feeling ill for a while and not told me? And last night, we...I would never have risked your health if I knew you--"

"Hey, no. Stop. I've just been a bit tired, that's all," the older man explains. "I wanted you last night, just like I always have and always will so don't you dare overthink it."

Aaron takes his hand and links their fingers together. "Okay. I understand why you waited to say something; I just can't help worrying about you. And I know that doesn't help you, and you just want normality. But you know how much I love you, Robert."

"Yeah, I do. Listen, we don't know what the doctor is going to tell us yet, it might not be as serious as we're thinking. But if it is, then..."

"Rob, don't."

"Please, let me just say this. I need to make sure you know how much I love you, too. And our family. And the life we've had together, because I kept my promise to you, didn't I? About sticking around until I'm 80?"

Wiping his eyes, Aaron frowns at him. "It's still not long enough. Now I've let you get that out, so you have to stop talking like you're dying, okay? Because you're not. I'm not ready to lose you, you hear me?"

I'm not ready to lose you

The words are so familiar. Robert remembers the last time he heard Aaron say them, caught between a dream and reality. He's not ready to go, either, but if his time is almost up then he knows his life has been as full as it can be. He looks back at Aaron now and smiles. Despite his acceptance for however his fate turns out, he would gladly take as much extra time as he could to be with this man, their kids and grandkids.

"I hear you."

He will fight. As long as there is strength in his body, he will stick around for Aaron and fight.


	5. Day Five: Firsts/Beginning

"I'm not really a speech kind of bloke, which most of you already know. But I can do it when it matters, and it matters now."

Robert had expected someone to get up and talk when he heard Victoria knocking a spoon against her champagne glass, but the last person he expected to stand up and open his mouth was Aaron. Aaron, who had just reached down to squeeze his hand before he started speaking. Whether that was to reassure Robert or himself, he isn't sure.

"The first time I met Robert," Aaron continues. "I thought he was a pillock. I thought he was...well, I thought he was too big for his boots, basically. And I was right."

There's laughter around the room, and Robert hopes this speech is going somewhere. Though he knows better than to assume Aaron made this much effort just to mock him in public.

"But I still couldn't stay away from him. And the first time I realised that I couldn't stay away was pretty much the same day he kissed me for the first time." Aaron stops for a few beats, clearly awkward about being so uncharacteristically open like this. He looks down at Robert sat beside him, who gives him a proud smile that encourages him to continue. 

"There were a lot of 'firsts' that stuck with me in the early days and I'm not gonna go through all of them, but Robert was the first person outside my family who properly believed in me. He was the first person that made me think I could be happy, and the first one who actually made it possible. And he was the first man that ever made me want this. A marriage."

There's not a sound in the room after that. Robert's heart feels like it's going to burst out of his chest. He studies his husband's face - any nervousness has disappeared, replaced with certainty, pride...a glow of pure happiness.

"So all I want to say now is, thanks for coming," Aaron finishes. "Oh and I guess I should say raise a glass to my husband, even though it's not like his ego needs any more inflating!"

There's a mixture of laughs and cheers now, and everyone starts to do as instructed with a chorus of "to Robert!" until the man himself rises from his seat to interrupt.

"To Aaron," he corrects them, and Aaron shakes his head at that.

"Oh belt up you two," Chas announces loudly. "To Aaron and Robert. The way it should be."

"To Aaron and Robert!" the rest of the room repeat, glasses in the air. Robert puts down his own glass and pulls Aaron in for a kiss.

"You, Mr Sugden," Robert tells him. "Are the first person I thought about a 'forever' with, without being absolutely terrified."

"Me too," Aaron says quietly. "You crying, Mr Dingle?"

There are definite tears in the older man's eyes, and a few running down his cheeks. "No."

Aaron's eyes light up in a silent victory. He's actually made his husband cry tears of joy on their wedding day. "You are." 

"Maybe. Now come on," he tells him as the music starts up. "You owe me another first dance."

And okay, maybe Aaron will give in to that request again. After all, first dances; first everythings aren't quite so scary when they're with Robert.


	6. Day Six: Irrealis/AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on the sitcom 'Peter Kay's Car Share'

"Bloody car share scheme," Aaron muttered as he opened the car door, got in and pulled the door closed just that bit too hard.

"Watch it!" Robert hissed. "I love this car."

"Sorry," Aaron replied, not sounding particularly apologetic to the man's ears. "Still don't get why we couldn't have used my car."

"Because you live on my route to work, and you would have had to go out of your way if you were picking me up." Robert's tone betrayed the fact that they'd had this debate before.

"Or the store could have made the car park bigger so we could all drive our own cars."

"Believe me, that'd suit me down to the ground. But it's not happening, so get used to it. You think I'd have chosen you for this car share thing if we'd had a choice?"

Aaron snorted. "Feeling's mutual, mate."

"Hardly mates, are we?"

Neither of them spoke after that, and it took a further fifteen minutes before Robert was parking up outside the supermarket where they both worked. They parted ways in silence, Aaron heading to start his shift on deliveries while Robert was on the customer service desk.

*

Five minutes after clocking off time, Robert reached his car to find Aaron already waiting there. "How did I beat you here when I barely made it back on time from my last delivery?" he asked.

"I was dealing with the customer from hell."

"I had one of those, and I guarantee you mine was worse," Aaron insisted as they got in the car.

"Worse than being sworn at in top volume on the phone for ten minutes?"

"What, it took you that long to hang up?"

Robert sighed as he started the car and pulled out of the car park. "Oh yeah, 'cos that'd go down well with Simon, wouldn't it?" he said of their store manager.

"What was wrong with the bloke, then? I assume this was a bloke?"

With a nod, Robert summed up the situation. "Something about a late delivery, and it meant he couldn't go out for hours and blah blah blah..."

Aaron huffed out a breath. "Sounds like we had the same customer from hell, then."

"You were the late delivery driver?"

"I was stuck in traffic!"

"And then apparently you were rude to him?"

"No I wasn't, I was perfectly civil."

"I'm finding that hard to imagine," Robert rolled his eyes.

Aaron scowled at him. "Oh, shut up."

"My case in point. You know Simon will find out about today."

"Not really bothered. I don't even like this job; I was just saving up to get my own place and I'm nearly there now, anyway."

"Couldn't you do that in a job you enjoy?"

"No mechanic jobs around for miles."

Robert raised an eyebrow. "Mechanic, eh? My first job was in a garage. Got trained up there."

For the first time, Aaron seemed more than vaguely interested in the conversation. "Yeah? Why'd you give it up?"

"Boredom, mainly," Robert admitted. "Decided I wanted to be a chef instead. Did the cooking thing for a while, got bored all over again. I wanted to set up my own business but I didn't know what, and I didn't know where to start so five years later, here I am. Stuck in a supermarket and putting up with your ugly mug five days a week."

Aaron couldn't help the amused smile his mouth curled into. Robert looked at him briefly as they stopped at a set of traffic lights, half a smile on his own face too.

* 

The following week, Robert drove them both home from yet another exhausting day at work as he talked over the radio.

"A warning isn't too bad. Just try not to have a go at any more customers and you'll be fine," he told Aaron.

"I should've just told Simon to stick his warning, and the job," the other man mumbled.

"If you'd really wanted to leave, you'd have done that already."

"So how come you haven't left then?" Aaron challenged. "If all the other jobs bored you, why hasn't this one got to you yet?"

Robert let out a chuckle. "Oh, it has got to me. I can't stand it. But like you, I need the money. Got a mortgage to pay off."

"Really. Got the whole family set-up, have you?"

"No, it's just me. My girlfriend walked out a few years ago when I told her I was bisexual. She couldn't handle it."

Aaron hadn't been expecting that. He realised he hadn't known anything about this man until recently, beyond his name and what department he worked in. He had thought Robert was simply this arrogant, snobby bloke who rated his car a bit too much. But there was a depth to him, it seemed. 

"Oh. That's...sorry. That's awful."

"Well," Robert replied, taken aback by Aaron's response. "It's been a while now, I'm over it."

"Still, though. I know it's not the same but I get it. My first boyfriend didn't accept me for who I was, you know? It hurts."

They left the topic at that, Robert nodding to show he appreciated the empathy. 

"You gonna turn that radio up, then?"

Robert did so, wincing as some indie-style band blared from his speakers. "Ugh, what is this?"

"A classic."

"You call that noise a classic?"

Aaron smirked. "Compared to what, exactly? Go on, what sort of music does Robert Sugden usually drive along to in his poncy car?" 

"I can chuck you out of said car if you prefer?"

Aaron held his hands up in surrender, to signal that he would avoid any more car-related insults. Today, at least. 

Robert fiddled with the radio and grinned as he turned up the volume again, clearly happy with his choice: Bon Jovi's 'Livin' On A Prayer'.

"Seriously?" Aaron raised an eyebrow.

"Now this is what I call a classic," Robert informed him, now beginning to sing along.

"You must be joking," his passenger deadpanned. He groaned as the other man's singing grew louder, although he still found himself staring transfixed at the way Robert's head bobbed ridiculously to the beat of the music. 

*

The weeks flew by with a comfortable routine forming between the two men. Robert would stop to get them a coffee each most mornings before picking up Aaron, and drive them to work as they took turns detailing the kind of careers they really wanted. The kind of lives they really wanted. 

Later, on the way home, they would turn on the radio and try to one up each other in a continuous battle of the tunes. Robert always sang along with his choices, but Aaron drew the line at taking his contribution that far. Mostly he mocked the other man's cheesy efforts, but the smile he couldn't hide only encouraged him further.

Aaron began to get the odd comment at work, remarking that he seemed chirpier lately. He shrugged it off, insisting he was the same old Aaron; but even his best mate Adam noticed the change in him outside of work life. 

Robert noticed that he could get through his shifts easier since car sharing with Aaron. It was weird how this grumpy idiot had suddenly grown in importance to him. He could even class him as a friend now; though the attraction brewing in his belly whenever they were together, laughing in his car, told him he wanted more.

Aaron felt the same stirrings of something in his chest when he climbed into Robert's car one Friday morning and the man handed him his coffee. He hadn't even needed to prompt him this time with what he wanted - Robert just knew. And he was aware that it was only caffeine; just because the man he was riding to work with day in day out now knew his coffee order right down to how many sugars he liked, didn't have to mean any more than what it was. They were on friendly terms these days, it was no big deal.

Except for the way Robert smiled at him as he took the cup from his hands, that warm, fond sort of smile that seemed to say more than good morning.

He smiled back, thanked him but didn't comment on it, and they continued their morning routine as normal. 

*

Another month passed and on what was his 31st birthday, Robert made the trip to collect Aaron as usual. The subject of his coming of age had cropped up in conversation a few days before, but he hadn't thought anything more of it until Aaron was in the car, clutching a wrapped gift.

"Happy birthday," he greeted, handing Robert the present. 

Robert took it, stunned, after passing Aaron his coffee and placing his own in the cup holder. He unwrapped the parcel to find a CD case labelled 'Robert' in Aaron's handwriting.

"Did you...make this?"

"Yeah. It's nothing special, just a few bands I thought you might like. Better than your usual rubbish but not as noisy as the ones I listen to."

"You made me a CD," Robert stated, still looking at it in amazement. 

Aaron was looking at his lap now. "Shut up. It's probably not very good."

"I don't actually care what the music's like, Aaron. People don't tend to do things like this, not for me. Thank you." he opened the case, but Aaron stopped him. 

"Don't put it on yet. Wait till later? On the way home, or...maybe after you've dropped me off."

Robert smiled and put the CD inside the glove compartment before starting the car again and making the journey to work. "You don't need to be embarrassed. I already love it."

Sipping his coffee, Aaron let the words wash over him as they continued on their way.

*

Robert was desperate to put the CD on by the time the end of the day arrived. Aaron relented when they were halfway to his, but he asked Robert to wait until he was home before listening to the last track on the disc.

"These are really good," Robert admitted as they worked their way through half of the track list. The artists weren't very well-known, but sounded great much to his surprise.

"Told you I had better taste than you," Aaron teased.

"I'm not gonna go that far," Robert laughed. "But it's decent stuff."

After dropping Aaron off, Robert couldn't bring himself to wait to listen to the final track. When the opening bars of the song, listed as 'Only Love' by Ben Howard on the back of the CD case, came through the speaker, Robert frowned, unfamiliar with the song.

As the lyrics came through, though, it dawned on him what Aaron was trying to say using someone else's words. He forced himself to drive out of Aaron's street rather than run to knock on his door there and then.

The following morning, when Aaron got inside Robert's car, he was greeted with a tentative kiss instead of his usual coffee. A kiss that grew with confidence as it was returned with just as much affection.


	7. Day Seven: Jukebox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is set around the time that Aaron and Robert had only been together a few months, after Gordon's trial and death and Aaron was pushing Robert away on the regular. It's easy to look back now and see that Aaron's lifelong trust issues and insecurities, as well as his traumatic start to that year, all contributed to his behaviour. The song is called Scarecrow by Alex and Sierra, and lyrics are punctuated by the '*' symbol because I can't work out how to transfer italics onto Ao3!

Robert was working from home, sat in the backroom of the pub with his laptop at the table. He was listening to music on a low volume while he worked, YouTube meaning he could go from genre to genre, artist to artist. He let the songs select themselves, leaving it to run automatically and it was half an hour in that he heard the song. The song that seemed to sum up exactly how he was feeling about his relationship with Aaron, despite never having heard of the artists.

*I'm standin' still without you  
In the emptiest of fields  
Wish that I could say what's on my mind*

Aaron was, at times, still unreachable to him even after months of being together. He wanted the younger man to let him in more, to trust him. To tell Robert what was going through his head on the days where he would shut himself off, or fly off the handle and tell him to go away. Those days had, admittedly, lessened since they had moved in together; but they hadn't stopped altogether.

*This is where it starts tonight  
If you open up your heart tonight*

Robert knew that he hadn't made it easy for Aaron in their early days. But so much had changed between them and he wanted them to be solid now. Strong and unbreakable. He just needed to tell him that.

*I just wanna believe in you and me  
Yeah, I just wanna believe in you and me*

Hours later, when Liv had come back from school, Chas was working the bar and Robert had finally closed his laptop for the evening, Aaron returned home from the scrapyard. 

"Hey," Robert greeted him. "I think Liv's going round to Gabby's in a bit, so why don't I take you out for dinner?"

Aaron sighed. He was exhausted. "Not tonight, yeah?"

"Right. Sure. I'll just cook, then."

"You don't have to."

"I want to. I want us to talk."

Aaron frowned. "Why? What's going on, something happened?"

"No, nothing. I just have some things to say."

"Robert, you're worrying me a bit, so can you just say whatever it is now?" he sat down, wringing his hands together in agitation.

Robert moved to join him on the sofa, pleased when his boyfriend shuffled closer to him. "You don't need to be worried, Aaron. It's...sometimes I feel like we're not as close as we could be, and I just...miss you a bit, I guess that's the simplest way to put it."

"You miss me? We live together. Or is this because I don't want to go out for dinner? It's only because I'm tired; it's not that I don't want to spend time with you."

"I know. I'm not on about dinner, you know I'm just as happy staying in together. What I mean is, well. I don't know if I can tell you in a way that won't upset you."

Aaron stared at him. "Upset me? Are you trying to break up with me?"

"No!" Robert exclaimed, louder than necessary. "God, of course not. I want you, always. But the other day, you were having a bad day and all I wanted was to help you and you wouldn't let me in. I couldn't do anything, Aaron, and I know there are going to be times when you need space but please talk to me, tell me that instead of pushing me away?"

Open-mouthed and lost for words, Aaron's eyes hadn't left Robert's face, and still didn't even when they heard Liv pass by the door on her way out, calling "I'm going to Gabby's!"

"I'm sorry," Robert said when Aaron showed no signs of responding. "You're tired, and this could have waited till later."

"No," Aaron finally replied. "No, I'm glad you told me. I didn't realise...I'll try, okay? I'll try not to push you away. I never mean to do it, you know, and then things just get too much and I end up taking it out on you. Robert, I spent so long doing it by myself - coping with the crap inside my head, or not coping, really. Pushing people away; it's habit."

"I'm here, alright?" Robert reassured him. "For the good bits and the bad bits. It's you and me. And Liv, obviously. And even she seems to actually tolerate me these days so I must be doing something right." He grinned, and Aaron laughed. 

"You and me," he replied, kissing Robert to punctuate the declaration.

*This is where it starts tonight  
If you open up your heart tonight...*


End file.
